Gold jewelry pieces provide an elegant way to stand out, especially when worn the right way with the right clothing. Gold falls among the top highly-priced precious metals that are used to make ornamentals and jewelry. It has different financial, emotional and cultural values depending on the different reasons someone buys it and who buys it. For example, Indians believe that gold symbolizes purity, prosperity and opulence. Its price and supply and demand are influenced by different factors like local market conditions, economic socio-cultural factors.
Once mined and refined, gold is then made into jewelry. Many people that love gold jewelry, however, often can’t differentiate between real and fake gold. There are several things you should consider while buying gold ornaments. You need to understand the different gold variations available in the market that affect its purity, quality and price. Here are 5 tips for choosing gold jewelry.
Purity
The purity of substances is determined by how much of that substance is in. When it comes to the purity of gold in gold jewelry, different jewelry pieces have different purity ranges. Due to its soft nature, pure gold cannot be used alone to make jewelry.
Instead, gold has to be mixed with other metals such as nickel, silver, copper and zinc for it to be strong and durable. This is why you find most gold jewelry with a mark that states the caratage. You can find common gold carat options like 18K, 22K and 24K. The higher the number, for example, 24K is higher than 18K and 22K indicating the higher the purity of the gold.
Price
The purity of the gold jewelry piece determines its market price. The alloy used also plays a part in the price depending on whether it’s silver, bronze, etc. The design of the jewelry and the amount of skill and labor required to make the jewelry piece is also a major factor. All these factors when taken into consideration can affect the price of gold jewelry.
A highly-priced gold piece indicates that the cost of skill and labour and alloy used were high. But, this should not prevent you from going for high-quality gold jewelry pieces. Check what lies within your budget but go for quality gold pieces. Choose from a collection of elegant and high-quality gold jewelry worth every coin you spend.
Colour
Gold is available in many variations. The original and common colour is yellow gold. However, there are other popular options like white gold and rose gold. Other gold jewelry pieces are a combination of two-tone styles for those that prefer a mix of colours. Depending on which metals were combined with pure gold you can get new and diverse colour palettes. For example, a mixture of pure gold with white metals like palladium or silver creates white gold.
Pure gold combined with copper results in a soft pink complexion of rose gold. With so much advancement, gold can now be created into many other different colours, such as green, purple and even black. However, the demand for the original yellow gold variation is still at the top under precious metals.
Gram weight
Each gold jewelry piece is measured in grams which determines the price of the gold jewelry. The higher the number of grams, the higher the price of the jewelry piece. Gold karats and weight allow you to calculate the jeweler’s markup in gold item’s prices. 24K is 1005 pure gold with 12K gold and 12K alloy metal giving the gold jewelry piece 50% purity.
You can determine the purity percentage by dividing any K value by 24. For example, 18K gold jewelry when divided by 24 gives 75% gold purity and 14K divided by 24 gives a 58.33% gold purity. Some sellers don’t sell based on weight and price gold jewelry with an arbitrary markup. But, even with this limitation, you can still calculate the gold value yourself using the karat.
Jeweler’s reputation
It’s recommended that you buy your gold jewelry from a reputable jeweler to avoid buying a fake piece. Consider checking the jeweler’s reputation before buying jewelry pieces. The brand has to be well established with proven reliability and authenticity. You can also ask for a warranty, especially if your jewelry piece is too expensive. This protects the value of your investment.
Once you’ve bought your gold jewelry, always maintain its luster by keeping your gold jewelry fresh and clean. High karat gold items should be used less frequently. Store your gold jewelry in separate compartments or wrap them in individual pieces of cloth to avoid mixing them with other jewelry.
